Live coverage of Michigan Winter Beer Festival at Fifth Third Ballpark

John Gonzalez/The Grand Rapids PressThe first few fans are arriving for this year's Michigan Brewers Guild Winter Beer Festival.

COMSTOCK PARK -- Hey everyone, we'll be live today at the 2011 West Michigan Winter Beer Festival. It begins at 1 p.m. where some 6,000 beer enthusiasts from Michigan and the Midwest will be on hand to sample more than 300 beers from the state's best-known breweries.

I'll be joined by Grand Rapids Press reporter Rachael Recker for the coverage, and we also plan to talk to some reps from Kalamabrew, a website from the Kalamazoo Gazette and Mlive.com that does a great job of keeping you informed about the state's beer-making business.

We want you to join the conversation. Assuming Twitter is up and running (it was down about 9 a.m. today) – use the hashtag #MiWinterBeer